Comment of the Moment: Photo of the Moment: Neil Young Concert in Dijon, France - 1982 Europe TRANS Tour

Neil Young
Parc des Expositions, Dijon, France - 1982-09-15
photo by Bruno Fisson
(Click photo to enlarge)  

For all the TW regulars out there in the rustie grains communities, you're really going to love these synchronicities.

The quick back story here is that last week, we posted on Photo of the Moment: Neil Young Concert in Dijon, France - 1982 Europe TRANS Tour.   The photographer is unknown of this back to the future, time traveling cosmic cowboy/TRANSformer man.

 

In the thread, a fan named Bruno Fisson asked "Who took photo?".  Upon spotting the photo and thread, John K. recognized Bruno's name as author of the once definitive book on Neil Young bootlegs.

 

Neil Young: A Complete Illustrated Bootleg Discography 

published w/ Broken Arrow Magazine (quarterly journal of the Neil Young Appreciation Society)

 

John K went on to digress about this little synchronicity and thank Bruno for his research way back in the 1980's.

But wait.  It gets even better.

Which brings us to the Comment of the Moment on Photo of the Moment:  Neil Young Concert in Dijon, France - 1982 Europe TRANS Tour by Mr. Bruno Fisson:

Thanks John.

Thanks Thrasher!

I'm very moved... and I didn't know I had fans! You know, I’m only a collector who likes to share what he knows and has learned over the years...

It also allows me to remember Alan Jenkins, without whom all this would not have been possible.

If I asked "who took the picture?" It’s that I'm sure we were neighbors that night!

And here are some other pictures I took… which show that Neil's outfit was worn for at least 3 songs (On the Way Home, Don't Cry No Tears, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and I think, maybe Cortez The Killer…) 3 different guitars for those songs!

Sorry ViP, the Wyoming Native T Shirt is not blue but rather "old black" or "used black"!….

Sorry Dionys, but I don’t think the jacket is so "clownesque", especially since it reminds me of the outfit of surgeons who operate in French "operating theaters"! (I'm not sure that's the right term?!)

When I think back to this concert, what immediately comes to my mind is the extraordinary presence of Nils. Like a goblin spinning around Neil, a wisp dancing through the air…

For me, Nils has always been a huge guitarist that I love a lot and that I find far too underrated!

There is an anecdote of this concert that I would like to share with you:

In those 80's, very athletic Nils used to do flips on stage.

His brother Tom, who was his tech, had set up a small springboard which he watered before the concert began. When Nils started his flip, the landing did not go well and Nils slipped and found himself on the ground on his back, while continuing to play! Amazing ! And what a professional!!

For my "fans", I would like to tell you I’m still collecting Neil bootleg vinyl… And I’m actually working on an update for "A Complete Illustrated Bootleg Discography"… So I’m looking for any kind of help."

Photos are in chronological order!

Thanks so much Bruno for reaching out here.  Quite a discovery and putting together pieces from this unique period in  Neil Young's musical styles and fashions.

Here are Bruno Fisson's Neil Young concert photos from Parc des Expositions, Dijon, France - 1982-09-15 on 1982 Europe TRANS Tour.

Neil Young
Parc des Expositions, Dijon, France - 1982-09-15
photos by Bruno Fisson
(Click photo to enlarge)

More on  Photo of the Moment:  Neil Young Concert in Dijon, France - 1982 Europe TRANS Tour.

 

TRANSformer Man 

Before Berlin + After Berlin

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REVIEW: Neil Young's (Bernard Shakey’s) ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ (1979) Vs. ‘Human Highway’ (1983) | Split Picks

Neil Young's (Bernard Shakey’s) ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ (1979) Vs. ‘Human Highway’ (1983) | Split Picks

 

From Neil Young's (Bernard Shakey’s) ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ (1979) Vs. ‘Human Highway’ (1983) | Split Picks:

Split Picks wrestles with an all-time great concert film from Neil Young and a comedy with a complicated history

When he’s not behind the camera, director Bernard Shakey spends his time as a Canadian-born rock ‘n’ roll star who goes by the name Neil Young. Split Picks returns to look at two films directed by Shakey, with Breanna McCann joining for the first time, and Bennett Glace returning for yet another episode. They discuss all things Neil Young, Crazy Horse, and the passion projects Young directed as his alter-ego.

Rust Never Sleeps (1979) stands tall among the finest concert films ever made. With a stage full of comically oversized props set by Roadeyes, Young begins solo and runs through the highs of his career before Crazy Horse joins him to debut some now classic songs. Each shot of the film is near-iconic and its setlist will fulfill any Young fan’s requests.

Taking cues from Japanese horror films, The Wizard of Oz, and Jerry Lewis, Human Highway (1983) follows a small group of workers at an auto shop and diner who all have dreams of getting out, or at least winning the local talent show at the nuclear power plant. It just so happens to be the last day on Earth. Human Highway flopped when it came out, but a vastly improved director’s cut has given it new life.

Listen to the episode to see which film reigns supreme, and why, after all this, Bennett’s biggest question is why didn’t Neil Young star in more comedies?

Split Tooth · Split Picks: Bernard Shakey's 'Rust Never Sleeps' Vs. 'Human Highway'

 

More on The Ultimate Cult Classic Double Feature: Neil Young's Human Highway & Rust Never Sleeps.

The Ultimate Cult Classic Double Feature: Neil Young's Human Highway & Rust Never Sleeps

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Neil Young Day: The Broadway Barking, London on Saturday 3 June

Neil Young Day: The Broadway Barking, London - Saturday 3 June  (Click photo to enlarge)  

Neil Young Day 

Saturday 3 June 10am – 10pm 

The Broadway Barking, London

The Broadway Theatre Barking is delighted to announce its first ever Neil Young Day on Saturday 3 June 2023. 

This celebrates the recording in 1971 at the theatre which was then known as The Barking Assembly Hall, of two tracks on Young’s biggest selling album, Harvest. 

2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the release of Harvest. It was marked with new DVD/CD and DVD/Vinyl box sets which included a previously unseen documentary film of the making of the album. The Barking Assembly Hall can clearly be seen in footage recorded during Neil’s time working with the London Symphony Orchestra. 

The film, Harvest Time, has had a limited cinema release and we are delighted to be able to screen it as part of our Neil Young Day. The film is 125 minutes long and will be shown in the theatre’s main auditorium. Tickets £6. 

During the day, the Broadway’s first Record Fair will be held in the foyer spaces. Whether a record collector or a casual browser, everyone is welcome to come and dig in the crates for some rare vinyl or much-loved classics. Entry from 10am, entry fee £2.50. 

Making a very special guest appearance will be Barking’s very own Billy Bragg, who will unveil a plaque to mark Neil Young’s association with the venue. 

Acclaimed author and editor of the Rare Record Price Guide, Daryl Easlea will deliver a special edition of his popular Fast Forward talks: Fast Forward: A Complete History of Neil Young in Six Records. Always entertaining and very popular, Daryl’s talks such as those on Decca at the British Library and V&A, always sell out. Tickets £12. 

To round off the day, the Neil Young tribute band, Rust for Glory make their first appearance in Barking. Playing Harvest in its entirety and then an array of other Neil Young classics, the band are the perfect full stop at the end of a day of music and reminiscence. Tickets £22

Ian Knowles, Creative Director of the Broadway said:

“To discover that such an iconic musician as Neil Young had recorded in our venue was absolutely amazing. To see the footage of him working with the orchestra and to recognize the interior of the building delighted us all. We hope that all Neil Young fans will want to visit to see the venue where tracks for Harvest were recorded to celebrate the album and the artist and enjoy a really fantastic line-up of events. "

Tickets are on sale now for Neil Young Day. Each event can be booked separately or a package of all events plus free entry to the Record Fair can be bought for £36.50. Go to www.thebroadwaybarking.com to purchase or call 0208 507 5607.

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"Green Pop": Songs of the Earth - From Woody Guthrie to Neil Young | Pop Matters

"This Machine Kills Fascists"Woody Guthrie (Click photo to enlarge)

 

An interesting essay on how American folk songs of the Earth, from Woody Guthrie to Neil Young, tilled the soil for the rise of ‘Green Pop’.

From "Songs of the Earth: Woody Guthrie to Neil Young | Pop Matters by Laurence Coupe:  (thanks Brian "Keys Left Hangin'!) 

We could, of course, trace ‘Green Pop’ back through eras and cultures, but here I’m concentrating on the importance of folk music in the post-war years. 

The rise of environmental awareness among folksingers was particularly significant because it went hand in hand with the growing impact of the science of ecology. 

There was a folk revival in the US in the 1950s, led by groups such as the Weavers and the Kingston Trio, but ‘folk’ didn’t become generally identified with ‘protest’ until the 1960s: protest against not only racial oppression and the Vietnam War, but also against the damage being done to the natural world. That said, Woody Guthrie provided a model for this kind of music in the 1940s. 

With “Pastures of Plenty” (1941), Guthrie addresses one of the major environmental disasters to emerge in the 1930s: the Dust Bowl. Caused by a policy of aggressive exploitation of the land, it meant huge numbers of people had to escape the drought and dust storms that blighted several states, most notably Oklahoma. These ‘Dust Bowl migrants’ travelled westwards to California for work. Guthrie sings in sympathy and solidarity with these ‘Okies’.

The fate of the working class is seen as inseparable from the fate of the land itself.  

...

Neil Young – “After the Goldrush” (1970)

The lyrics of “After the Goldrush” present a curious narrative.

It is probably Neil Young’s most cryptic composition. The title suggests that it takes place in mid-19th centuryAmerica, focussing on the disappointment felt by those who sought quick wealth. However, the singer’s dream drifts from a jousting event in medieval England to contemporary warfare, possibly involving nuclear weapons, and so to a science fiction scenario in which the destruction of Mother Nature necessitates the transfer of its ‘seed’ to a ‘new home in the sun’. We are not sure whether the ‘chosen ones’ are the elite, able to escape the consequences of the very state that they have brought about, or whether they are heroic figures trying to save nature. Does the singer remain in ‘a burned-out basement’, waiting for orders that will never come?

Whatever we decide about the meaning of “After the Goldrush”, it is certainly the song’s refrain that hit home: ‘Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s’. That this message continues to matter to Young is indicated by the fact that in more recent performances, he changes ‘1970s’ to ‘21^st century’.

[ed: other Neil Young songs analyzed include:

• “Are There Any More Real Cowboys?” (1985)
• “Mother Earth” (1990; 2016)
• “Be the Rain”, from Greendale (2003)
• “Green Is Blue” (2019)
• “Who’s Gonna Stand Up (For the Earth)?” (2014) ]
  

...

We’ve been tracing the link between folk music and what I’m calling ‘Green Pop’, taking in the work of Guthrie, Seeger & co. If anyone could be said to have traced this journey within his career, it is surely Neil Young. I’ve known some people to dismiss his ecological work as fashionable and attitudinizing. Still, the evidence is that he has been entirely consistent in his resistance to agribusiness, to ‘big oil’, and to corporate influence.
...
From Woody Guthrie to Neil Young, we can trace a serious and consistent commitment to the most important cause of our era. We are still learning from the songwriters discussed; whatever form “Green Pop” might take, the legacy of those folk roots will endure.

Full article @ "Songs of the Earth: Woody Guthrie to Neil Young | Pop Matters by Laurence Coupe.

 

More on eco, green Neil Young music @ The Inconvenient Truth of  Neil Young's Greendale.

"Be The Rain"
Neil Young and "Sun Green"
Greendale at Radio City Music Hall, New York City - March 18, 2004 

(note Neil's feet airborne!)

photo by thrasher

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